Golf club



J S. PALMER June 5, 1962 GOLF CLUB Filed June 17, 1959 IN VENTOR. zwz 1? United States Patent M 3,037,770 GULF CLUB John S. Palmer, 314 Harris, Clarendon Hills, Ill. Filed June 17, 1959, Ser. No. 820,937 4 Claims. (Cl. 27380) This invention relates to a new and improved golf club.

The game of golf is old and established, yet the equipment used in playing the game is undergoing a constant evolution. The present invention is directed to the development of a golf club and particularly a putter which is used to strike a ball on a smooth surfaced green with great accuracy to enable the player to get the ball into a hole which is located on the green. Many types and styles of putters have been made and it is the custom for players who play frequently to have a number of different style putters in their possession. Although usually only one putter is used in any one game of golf, the player oftentimes selects a putter for a game depending upon conditions of the course but primarily the selection is based on the players feeling of what club will be lucky that day. Accurate putting involves a great degree of coordination between the players arms and these arms must conjointly move in a pendulum-like manner to strike the ball squarely in a substantially sweeping action wherein the club face will follow the ball along its intended path of travel toward the cup into which the ball must drop to complete any hole of golf. During translatory acceleration of an ordinary club by a golfer there is a tendency to produce an inertia force due to unbalance in the plane of rotation which will tend to provide rotation in the club shaft and thus misdirect the ball.

It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a golf club of the type generally known as a putter which is so balanced as to avoid outside influences such as may be caused by a players lack of complete coordination of his arms and body in executing the shot.

An important object of this invention is the provision of a golf club head having a shaft thereon which terminates in substantially the center of the club head as viewed from end to end thereof.

Another important object of this invention is to supply a golf club head having a shaft angularly disposed with respect to the head and axially crossing the intersection of the vertical and horizontal axes through the club face at a position reanvardly of the front face but forwardly of the point of center of gravity of the club head which is also on a line passing through the club head from front face to rear face on the intersecting vertical and horizontal intersecting center lines of the front face of the club.

Another and further important object of this invention is to equip a golf club head with a bottom having a spherical surface with a radius of substantial length and having its center on a vertical axis through the center of the golf club head in a plane through the axis of the club shaft.

A still further important object of this invention is to provide a golf club head having a front face, a rear face, a bottom, a top, and ends, and wherein the front face is substantially flat and the rear face forms a rearwardly projecting apex located coincident with the intersection of the vertical and horizontal intersecting center lines on the front face of the club and the apex on the rear face and the intersecting center lines on the front face defining a fore and aft axis through the club head.

Another and still further important object of this invention is the provision of means in a golf club putter wherein the center line between the lateral ends of the 3,037,770 Patented June 5, 1962 front face is defined by a vertical shoulder on the top thereof for sighting the proper line of travel of the club when striking the ball.

Another and still further important object of this invention is to provide a golf club head having a shaft affixed thereto and effectively joining the golf club head on the center line thereof and arranged and constructed with a balanced head such that when the club is freely supported by the shaft thereof in a horizontal position the front or ball striking face will turn upwardly.

Still another important object of this invention is the provision of a golf club putter in which the club head is perfectly balanced to enhance the proper striking of the ball and inherently have the head follow through without any tendency to veer from the path of intended travel of the ball.

Another and further important object of this invention is to enable a player to use a golf club putter and sight directly vertically downwardly with his eyes for alignment with a vertical shoulder extending from front to rear on the top of the club head to effectively guide the path of travel of the club head at the time the ball is to be struck.

Other and further important objects and advantages will become apparent from the disclosures in the following specification and accompanying drawings:

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the golf club putter of this invention, 7

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the golf club head as shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the golf club putter as shown in FIGURES l and 2.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a player using the golf club putter of this invention.

As shown in the drawings:

The reference numeral 10 indicates generally a golf club head having a shaft extension 11 extending upwardly and angularly outwardly from the top thereof, as shown in FIGURE 1. The shaft 11 may have an extension 12 shown in dotted lines and extending upwardly from the shaft 11 to provide hand engaging means for the club. The club head 10 is equipped with a front face 13 which is relatively flat over its full extent. The front face 13 has a length considerably in excess of the diameter of a ball to be hit whereas the height of the front face is approximately the same or even less than the diameter of the ball used in play. Generally the club head height is not greater than the diameter of a golf hall.

For convenience in describing the construction of the golf club head of this invention, there will be designated certain center lines in order to show relative positioning of the various parts and points of the golf club head. As shown in FIGURE 1, the front face 13 of the club head 10 is provided with a horizontal center line 14 which defines a center of the club head between upper and lower halves thereof. A vertical center line 15 defines the center line dividing the club head between its laterally spaced ends 16 and 17. The intersection of the center lines 14 and 15 shown at 18 in FIGURE 1 constitutes the center of the radius 19 about which the ends 16 and 17 are formed. Further, the intersecting center lines 14 and 15 define the forward point of a line 18 disposed through the golf club head from the front face 13 to the rear face 20.

The shaft 11 is provided with an axial center line 21 which intersects the line 18 at a location betweenthe front and back of the club head. The club head 10 is thus balanced about its integral shaft between the spaced ends 16 and 17. The axial center line 21 of the shaft is shown in both FIGURES l and 3 as intersecting the line 18. FIGURE 4 clearly shows the line 18 as 'being intersected by the shaft center line 21 at a position forwardly of the center of gravity between the front face 13 and the apex 22 of the rear conical shaped face 20. The line '18 extends from the apex 22. to the front face and is disposed perpendicular to the front face 13. The center of gravity of the club head is disposed on the same line 18 but at a position toward the rear of the club head as shown at 23. This center of gravity of the club head is positioned rearwardly of the intersection of the shaft center line 21 and the line through the club head as shown at 18. V The top surface 24 of the club head 10 is relatively horizontally level and but for the projection of the shaft 11 thereinto, the top 24 would present a perfectly level surface for the club. However, the shaft 11 does project upwardly and laterally outwardly from the top surface 24 in such a manner that a ledge or shoulder 25 is formed to extend longitudinally from the front face to the rear face as shown in FIGURES l, 2

36 as shown in FIGURES 1, Z and 3. A hollow tubular extension member 37 is shown in dot-dash lines in FIG- URES l, 3 and 4 to provide a suitable hand engaging portion for the shaft 11 to efiect a swinging of the club head in the striking of a golf ball. The type of handle extension used and as indicated at 37 may be any one of many acceptable handles.

It should be apparent that herein is provided a golf club putter in which the club head is so balanced and constructed to minimize the errors normally occasioned in the use of golf club putters. Here the spherical bottom and 3. It should be apparent that the shoulder is disposed parallel with and directly above the line 18 on the vertical center line 15 as shown in FIGURE 1. The shoulder 25 constitutes the sight line for the player as illustrated at 26 in FIGURE 6 wherein the players eyes vertical path as shown by the dashed lines 28 onto the shoulder or ledge 25 wherein the player may conveniently guide the movement of the club head against the ball to be struck. A direct sighting on the vertical oif-set or shoulder 25 at the side orend of the shaft 11 makes it easy to properly align the club head against the ball preliminary to striking the ball by the club head 10.

As previously stated, the rear face 20 is provided with a central apex 22 coincident with the line 18 through the club head from front to rear thereof. The apex 22 defines the outer extent of a mass, substantially conical in shape on the rear face of the club head. The club head tapers rearwardly from all peripheral points of the rear face of the club head to thereby concentrate the mass and weight of the clubhead to the center thereof wherein the striking of a ball at a position on the line 18 will cause the ball to roll in a true path without any tendency or lateral deflection thereof. 'Further, the players coordination or lack of coordination is less effective in destroying or interfering with the true striking of the ball to thereby enhance the chances of success of the player; Thus the rear face 20 of the club head with itsapex 22 projecting rearwardly defines the outer rearward end of a cone which tapers inwardly and forward- 27 may be pointed directly downwardly in a general 1y to all peripheral edges of the club head. This, of

course, provides that the mass of Weight is located at the center of the club and as previously described the center 'of gravity 23 is located on the line 18.

The bottom 29 of the club head is part of a spherical surface in which a relatively long radius 30 has its center on a line 31 projecting vertically from the intersection of the shaft center line 21 with the line 18. This is shown in both of FIGURES 1 and 3. The adjoining corners between the spherical bottom 29 and the curved ends 16 and 17 are rounded as shown at 32 and 33. Similarly all of the edges of the club head are slightly rounded except as otherwise defined. This, of course, eliminates any sharp edges on any portion of the club that is handled and yet provides a smooth, flat front face 13 for striking the ball and a sharp guide line or vertical shoulder 25 for guiding the path of travel of the ball to be struck.

v The shaft 11 as shown in FIGURE 5 has a tear drop shape with a rounded front end 34 and a relatively sharp pointed rearward end 35. The shaft at its lower end tends to blend with the conical rear face 20 of the club head and at its upper end terminates in a round shaft portion putter.

which has a relatively long radius formed on a vertical center line through the club head prevents unwarranted catching on the turf when the club head is swung backwardly and then forwardly in the hitting of the golf hall. Further, the balancing of the club head is such that the front face 13 tends to remain forwardly at all times. Because the center of gravity of the club head is located on the line 18 and directly to the rear of the intersection of the shaft center line with this same longitudinal center line there is a normal tendency of the user to follow through on his swinging and striking of a golf ball. Of course all of the'golf experts recommend a sweeping or follow through action of most clubs and particularly the In addition to all of these features, the sighting means constitutes a vertical shoulder 25 extending for the entire depth of the club head to facilitate easy alignment of the ball with the cup into which the ball must be hit. Further, the shoulder guiding edge 25 is easily aligned with the golf ball *because of its height. The shoulder 25' is located beneath the top surface of a ball and enables a player to sight vertically downwardly from his eyes onto the offset shoulder 25 and line the ball up with the hole. The balancing of the club as previously stated eliminates side swinging of either of the ends 16 or 17 and thus tends to maintain the ball in a true line of flight toward the ultimate hole.

Another feature gained from the club having the con struction described is to enable the user on a strange course to determine the inclination of the ground line. The user merely rests the club shaft on his fingers, halancing the club head, which of course is heavier, and permits the club head to swing in a free manner. By so doing the front face 13 will always come up to a hori- Zontal level and the user may thus determine the relative angular difference between the level of the front face 13 of the club and the ground line thereby indicating to the user the direction of inclination of the ground and by so doing the player may adjust his stroke to compensate for this inclination of the ground line.

am aware that numerous details of construction may be varied throughout a wide range without departing from the principles disclosed herein and I therefore do not propose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than as necessitated by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A golf club comprisinga compact ball hitting head and a shaft therefor, said head having a front face, a rear face, a 'bottom, a top, and spaced apart ends, said front face including a generally fiat vertically disposed surface for engaging a 'ball,'said front face having a lateral extent substantially greater than the diameter of the ball to be hit and a vertical extent of approximately slightly lessthan the diameter of the ball, said bottom having a spherical under surface, and said rear face having a centrally disposed rearwardly projecting apex thereon constituting the rearward end of a cone to thereby define a compact club head mass, said shaft projecting upwardly and angularly outwardly from the top of said compact club head and having its centerline intersecting a line extending from the apex perpendicular to the front face.

2. A device as set forth in claim -1 in which the center of gravity of the mass of the club head is located on said ,line extending horn-the apex perpendicular to the front face. V

3. A device as set forth in claim 2 in which the intersection of the shaft centerline with the line extending from the apex perpendicular to the front face is disposed forwardly of the center of gravity.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 in which the club head has its mass balanced about its shaft centerline whereby by reason of the mass balancing and the location of the center of gravity with respect to the intersection of the shaft centerline With the line extending from the apex perpendicular to the front face of the club head, said club head will normally tend to have its front face disposed upwardly when the club is loosely supported by its shaft in a generally horizontal plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

